BRIOFOX Shower Curtain Rod

This is my first Amazon review ever, but I was compelled to write this after reading many glowing five-star reviews and several angry one- or two-star reviews because after my experience I saw the truth in both if them think I understand why: this shower curtain rod has a novel mechanism that has worked well for people, especially when other curtain rods have failed. However, but there seem to be some quality control issues that cause a significant number of people to have bad experiences.I give this three stars because I want to acknowledge the fact that this is a good design and one that is rarely seen at this price point, but point out that the issues I encountered are not acceptable and that while those of us with problems appear to me in the minority and I was able to return the defective rod, other customers should be prepared, just in case. So, I've outlined the issues I had and offer, in order not to refute anyone's good experiences the product's positive aspects.The Issues: firstly, the pictures make the rod look a bit higher quality than it actually is, even after installation the non-slide pads were still visible and the plastic spacer for the two rods was already beat up and wasn't attractive. Secondly, the provided limited instructions that appeared to be designed for a different model: they list step one as "tightly screw the endings", but the rod arrived with both endings in place and only one at the "top" could be screwed on/off. Should an unknowing customer attempt to tighten the one on the "bottom", they could inadvertently break it even before trying to installing. This "bottom" part was where the spring is attached to the bottom and seemed rather fragile, and upon making my first adjustment it popped off, exposing the spring and thereafter every time I wanted to move it, I had to enlist help to make sure that when the top part was moved, the bottom didn't fall out of place.These criticisms said, this his curtain rod is different from most tension rods, which have two sections that are pulled apart to expand, and once they're in place, the two sections are locked with a strong twist. But, this rod relies on a compression spring that constantly pushes outwards and against the walls, so it is fitted by unscrewing the inner section until it is 2"-4" (5-10cm) longer than needed, then pushing hard and positioning it into place. The spring inside will continue to push outwards and keep the shower curtain rod up. Since this is very different from the usual mechanism, it seems like people who have had horrible luck with other types are relieved to find something that works for their needs, and their five-star ratings reflect that.I hope that the seller will revise the instructions, update their pictures, and do a little more quality control so that everyone can make use of the product.

-- UPDATED REVIEW --Second Review: After my first review, the company contacted me and sent me not one, but two replacements. In that short period of time, both of them have broken. The first one worked for about 2 months (in our spare bathroom with house guests visiting for a total of 10 days. So, 10 days of use before it broke. We replaced with the second one and the second replacement broke the very first night of use on my mother-in-law. To make matters worse, when I attempted to fix, the entire rod fell apart in my hands (both cylinders disconnected, the end caps fell off, and the spring came out of the unit).THIS IS PURE GARBAGE. I purchased 1 defective unit. The company gave me 2 more units. All 3 of these units worked a grand total of less than 11 days. 11 DAYS! This is the highest level of garbage you can buy on Amazon. If you are looking to be insanely annoyed and dissatisfied with a product, please order this immediately. Would never buy anything BRIOFOX ever again...unless it was a gift for somebody I hated.First Review: This is utter garbage. Same exact issue as mentioned by others that makes this item unusable/constantly fail. First, the item was not secured in the packaging and the box used to ship was far too big. Having this cheap rod rattling around in a large box can't be good for the cheap inner rod components. The rod came with one end screwed in and the other disconnected/dangling. The instructions state to "tightly screw" the end pieces into the rod. The dangling end cannot be screwed in tightly. I was able to remove the end piece completely and re-assemble so that it could be screwed. However, if you are able to do this and "tightly screw" as instructed it will disconnect due to the poor design of the end piece. This poor design enables the inner rod mechanism to come out of the end when screwed tightly. So, the directions literally direct you to disconnect the end piece so it fails. Ugh. I was finally able to permanently affix the end with adhesive, but this is not ideal. I guess you get what you pay for.Beyond this major issue, it was extremely difficult to get the rod tight enough to not slip. Once again, the internal rod components are pure junk. I have zero faith in this rod for long-term. It currently serves as a temporary solution until I can find a solid/quality replacement. At that point, I plan to retire this item by taking to an open field and giving this junk the Office Space treatment.

UPDATE: After my review posted, Briofox contacted me to straighten out the problem. They did so promptly, and the new 1 worked as promised. So even if there's a problem, there's excellent customer service.———————————————————————————————————Old, worn shower rod falls down. Reviews say spend a little more for this shiny new rod that's real easy to install. It isn't because it arrives broken. [PS reviewmeta.com reports that as many as half of all these specific glowing reviews may be fake.]Turns out a 100% guarantee of satisfaction is worthless if the seller offers no contact info on Amazon or the web. Zero warranty info, too.I'm not new to assembly instructions. Just so you know, this year I bought online everything for an empty house and put it together myself: living room, bedrooms, dining room, office, patio.Instructions: tighten ends onto rod, extend rod, compress and install. Except one of the ends couldn't screw in because the piece with the hole wasn't attached to anything but the inner spring. So it only hung on, crooked and loose.No problem, I'll adjust from the end that works and the compression will hold it in place. Except it falls down when I move the curtain, failing its essential purpose each time I try again.I ended up reinstalling the old rod.